Help me choose a new drill press

[e36jon]

Greetings all

I'm slowly adding power tools to my home shop and a floor standing drill press is next on the list. I've tried to read up here using the search tool but everything I could find was for old / used presses and for a variety of reasons I am interested in new.

I have experience using belt + pulley models at the home-shop grade and don't want to go that way, mostly due to poor run-out performance. Feel free to talk me into it though... (It may be the best for my 'do anything' needs.)

I have used variable speed presses at work and am interested in doing this if I can, as I found myself way more likely to make the adjustment because it was easy, and the quality / run-out / etc. was an order of magnitude better. (We had two older BIG Powermatic presses)

Looking around online I also discovered 'gear head' drill presses and have never encountered one myself. Looks like 6-8 fixed speeds, usually with a really low low, like 30 rpm.

In terms of desired use it will be for a bit of everything: woodworking, plastics, aluminum, and steel. Sorry to be so non-specific, but it's the nature of the work I do as a product design consultant, I never know what's next!

With a ~$1,500 budget I found these four models and would appreciate any feedback you care to offer:

1. Powermatic PM2800B 18" variable speed: http://www.powermatic.com/us/en/p/pm2800b-drill-press-1hp-1ph-115-230v/1792800B It's aimed at woodworking, but seems burly enough to do most of what I would ever want to do... 250-300 rpm. ~$1,200.

2. Jet J-A5816 15" variable speed: http://www.cpojettools.com/jet-3545...0&ref=googaw&gclid=CIy6ofmahsQCFcVffgodRyQAcA This is a metal-working press, but the low speed is only 400 rpm. Also a bit over budget at ~$1,800

3. Grizzly G0779 Gear-head drill press: https://www.grizzly.com/products/Heavy-Duty-Floor-Model-Gearhead-Drill-Press/G0779 This seems super cool but I have no experience and didn't find any reviews online. 30-1970 rpm, ~$1,700.

4. Baileigh Dp-15vsf: http://www.toolfetch.com/baileigh-i...=BA-DP-15VSF&gclid=COK-vJSdhsQCFYaTfgodpDIALA 400-5000(!) rpm, ~$1,800.

 

[454ragtop]

Well, if you want to spend that kind of money on a drill press, Grizzly FTW. Tough to beat a gear head machine that weighs almost 800 lbs. Low speed is 90 RPM, not 30, which will be nice with larger hole saws and forstner bits. I have a similar Rockwell DP that I need to do some repairs on, figure once it's up and running probably won't ever need any other drill press.
Jim

 

[A_Pmech]

If you want a small geared drill press, I would look for a Solberga, Ibarmia, Strands, Avey, Arboga, or Alzmetall. They can be found inexpensively, along with Cincinnati Super Service drill presses if you keep your eyes peeled.

The Chinese machines are mostly copies of the above machines.

 

[zkling]

With that budget you could get a nice (or two) used industrial press. Powermatic, Clausing, Cincinnati, Edlund, larger Delta, Walker Turner or the like would be ones to watch for. I've used one of those powermatics, they are nice for wood, but not really designed for metalwork.

454ragtop, what large Rockwell do you have?

 

[454ragtop]

454ragtop, what large Rockwell do you have?

Zkling, it's a model 70-130, made for Rockwell by EFI in Portugal. I don't have pics of mine, but it's similar to this one on Ebay http://www.ebay.com/itm/26-Rockwell...b69bc6e&pid=100033&rk=1&rkt=4&sd=171527007102
Mine doesn't have that goofy ships wheel, since it has power down feed and also is setup to do tapping with the foot lever as shown in this Doall pic. EFI made the same machines for Doall, and maybe someone else whose name escapes me at the moment.
Jim